Road form



A. S. WOLF Nov. 28, 1933.

ROAD FORM Filed March 24, 1931 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Patented Nov. 28, 1933 UNITED STATES ROAD FORM Anthony S. Wolf, Pitt sburgh, Pa., assignor to Blaw-Knox Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 24,

Claims.

This invention relates to road forms and is particularly concerned with what are now well known in this art as road rails adapted for use in connection with the building of concrete roads 5 or highways.

The invention, furthermore, is especially concerned with an improved attachment or securing device for rails adapted to serve as moulds in the construction of cementitious or concrete curbing or the like.

The general nature, as well as the various objects and advantages of the invention, will be apparent from the following discussion:

In the construction of concrete roads it is customary to employ rails at the sides thereof which serve as moulds or moulding parts for the edges of the roads and also as a trackway over which road building machinery may travel.

After the'construction of the roadway itself,

it is sometimes desired to superimpose or add a curbing at the side edges in order, for example, to effect certain types of drainage. In adding such curbing, additional rails are frequently em ployed, these additional rails being superimposed on the top of thosewhich have been laid in connection with the building or construction of the road itself. In this way, an angled corner is provided between the front face of the superimposed or auxiliary rails and the top surface of the road itself, in which the curbing material is placed.

Still further, it is desirable to add the curbing to the roadway before the concrete thereof has become hardened, so that it is important that the upper or supplementary rails may be quickly 5 and readily positioned after the road building machinery has completed its operations in any particular section.

With this in mind, the present invention has in view theprovision of a device or mechanism for 40 securing superimposed road rails or forms to each other in a rapid and convenient manner. More specifically, the present invention makes provision for ready attachment and detachment of the supplementary railsby the use of a device which, in the preferred form, is secured as against detachment to the supplementary rails.

An additional object which is of importance is the provision of a-seouring device which is adaptable to upper and lower road rails of varying characteristics, such, for example, as different flange forms and different thicknesses in the material of which the rails are made. 1 Still further objects and advantages will occur 1931. Serial No. 524.789

of the following description taken with the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view through a pair of superimposed rails having the securing device of the present invention associated therewith, a portion of the roadway and curbing being included in this figure;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view of the securing device taken from the rear of the rails, i. e., from the right in Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a top view of the securing device illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the view being taken substantially as indicated by line 33 of Figure 1.

Referring first to Figure 1, the reference numeral 4 designates the main road rail, this rail being provided with a base flange 5 and an upper flange 6. Additionally, the upper flange 6 is provided with a down turned lip or flange '7.

It will be understood, of course, that in building or constructing the road, which is indicated at 8, a number of rails 4 are. arranged in alignment at each side or edge of the road, the rails being secured in this position as by means of stakes (not shown) in a manner now well known in this art. Thesupplementary or superimposed rail which is employed in the construction of the curbing 9 is indicated in Figure 1 by the reference includes a pair of plate like members 14, sub-,

stantially of L-shape, which are secured together at opposite sides of a spacing member 15 (see Figure 3) as by means of bolts or rivets 16. Each one of these members 14. is provided with an outturned lip or flange 1'7 which,-in the preferred embodiment, is suitably secured, as by welding, to the upper surface of the inner flange of a curbing rail 10. a

A plate member 18 has an upwardly extending portion 19 interposed and movable vertically between the spaced and rearwardly projecting portions of the plates 14. The member 18, furthermore, is provided withga forwardly and upwardly projecting part 20 adapted to engage the under 55 to those skilled in the art froma consideration side of the upp flange 6 0f the rail 4 and o wedge is not completely drawn up.

provide a slot (between the portions 19 and 20) to engage the depending lip 7.

The plates 14 are provided with slots or apertures 21, in registry with each other, and the element 18 is similarly provided with a slot like opening 22 which is adapted to register, at least partially, with the openings 21 in the plates 14.

The means for securing these various plates together and for causing a gripping or securing movement thereof, takes the form of 'a wedge member 23 (see Figures 2 and 3), having one edge thereof (the upper one in Figure 2) angled as indicated at 24 and 25, the two angled sections being cut or formed, respectively, at relatively small and large angles with respect to the horizontal. In view of the fact that it is preferable in a device of this character that the parts should all be secured together as against detachment, I prefer to construct the wedge member 23, at its large end 26, of suflicient over-all heightto make sure that this large end cannot be driven through the slots 21 and 22. For this same purpose, I preferably apply a bolt or projection 27 to the small end of the wedge in order to prevent this end from passing through the apertures in the plates 14.

The operation of this securing device is very simple'indeecl. Beforepositioning a rail 10 over a rail 4, the securing devices, any number of which may be applied, are set, by means of the wedges 23, to permit the gripping elements 18 to drop downwardly as indicated, for example, in dot and dash lines at 18a in Figure 1. This relative downward movement of each plate 18 (with the wedge surfaces 25 and the apertures 21 and 22 properly proportioned) permits movement of the gripping part 20inwardly and under the depending lip'or flange 7 of the lower rail.

After suitable positioning of the-curbing rails, in this'manner, the wedges 23 of the various securing devices are moved (to the left as viewed -in Figure 2) to cause the elements 18 to be drawn up with their gripping portions 20 engaged or received in the pocket formed within the flanges 6 and 7. In the preferred embodiment, the surface 25 of each wedge 23 is formed at a relatively steep angle in order to provide rapid raising of the plates 18 into gripping position. On the other hand, the surface 24 is angled in such manner as to produce a very strong or powerful wedg'ingactio'n so that the upper and lower flanges of the lower and upper rails, respectively, are tightly. "held or gripped between portions of the plates 14 and the part 20 of plate 18.

In order to aiford the maximum rigidity and strength in the device of the present invention. I prefer to employ a wedge which is only very slightly thinner than the width of the apertures in'the gripping plates. In this way the wedge acts not only as a means to take up slack, but, in addition, as a means for holding the various parts in line, to prevent twisting and the like. In this connection, it should also be noted that the disposition of the wedge rearwardly of the rails themselves, i. e., out of vertical alignment with the points of gripping, is also important in providing the desired degree of rigidity.

An additional advantage of the securing device of the present invention lies in the fact that the plate 18 serves toposition and align the rails even when the associated tightening This, of course, is eifected by virtue of engagement of the lip '7 between the plate portions 19 and 20, Therefore, even if one or several of the securing devices are not completely tightened, this engagement of the hp '7 will prevent the curbing rail from being displaced.

According to the foregoing, a securing or clamping means is provided by which superimposed road rails may be rigidly secured to each other in a very quick and efficient manner. Additionally, the attachment of the device, as a unit, to one of the rails lllSlllBS proper positioning of the devices, where a series of them are employed, and at the same time completely eliminates difiiculties incident to loss of the parts.

The rapidity and convenience with which these devices may be employed and operated makes it possible to reduce the total number of supplementary or curbing rails which it is necessary to keep on hand and transport from one section to another along a roadway as it is being constructed. The quick action made possible by the device of the present invention is also important because it is desirable to apply the curbing shortly after the road building apparatus'has passed a given point, so thatthe curbing material is positioned or applied prior to hardening of. the roadway itself.

I claim:,

1. In combination, a primary road rail having a flange extending downwardlyfrom the rail head, an auxiliary rail superimposed on the head of the primary rail, and a clamp mechanism for securing the rails to each other in superimposed relationship, said mechanism including a clamp member secured to the auxiliary rail and extended rearwardly therefrom, an additional and relatively movable clamp member having a partad- ,iacent the rearward extension of the member first mentionedand a part projecting forwardly therefrom beneath said head and flange of the primary rail, the clamp members being provided with registering apertures, a wedge device extended through said apertures whereby the two menibers may be moved toward and away from each other, the forward extension of the relatively movable clamp member further being notched to receive said downwardly extending flange, whereby to provide for alignment of the rails upon movement of the wedge device to draw the clamp members members toward each other.

2. In combination, a primary road rail hav- .125 ing a flange extending downwardly from the rail head, an auxiliary rail superimposed on the head of the primary rail, and a clamp mechanism for securing the rails to each other in superimposed relationship, said mechanism including a clamp member secured to the auxiliary rail and extended rearwardly therefrom, an additional and relatively movable clamp member having a part adjacent the rearward extension of the member first mentioned and a part projecting forwardly therefrom beneath said head and flange of the primary rail, the two clamp members being provided with vertically elongated slots adapted to register with each other, a wedge device extended through said slots whereby the two members may be moved toward and away from each other, the forward extension of the relatively movable clamp member further being notched to receive said downwardly extending flange, whereby to provide for alignment of the rails upon movement of the wedge device to draw the clamp members toward each other, the vertical extension or depth of said notch being sufficient to permit engagement of the under side of the primary rail head by the forwardly extending part of the clamp member second mentioned when the wedge device is advanced to draw the clamp members toward each other.

3. In combination with a pair of superimposed road rails having abutting flanges one of which has a downturned lip, a mechanism for clamping rails together, said mechanism including a pair of plate-like members arranged in side by side relation and having registering apertures: therein, a wedge device extending through said; apertures and providing for relative vertical movement of the two plate-like members, one of said members being secured to the upper rail and the other of said members being notched to receive said downturned lip and further having a portion adapted to engage the lower rail within the channel defined by the main body portion thereof, its flange and said downturned lip, whereby the two rails may be clamped to each other with their flanges in abutting relationship when the wedge device is moved to draw the members toward each other, and whereby the notched portion referred to serves to align the rails upon movement of the wedge device to advance the clamp members toward each other.

4. In combination with superimposed road rails having abutting flanges, a clamp mechanism for securing the rails to each other, said clamp mechanism including two plate-like members one of which has a portion permanently secured to the upper rail and a portion extended rearwardly therefrom and the other of which has a portion adjacent the rearward extension of the first and another portion extended forwardly therefrom below the flange of the lower rail, and said two plate-like members being provided with vertically elongated slots in their adjacent, portions so positioned as to at least partially register with each other, a wedge device extending through registering portions of said slots and providing for relative vertical displacement of the two platelike members, whereby, upon tightening the wedge, the plate-like members are advanced toward each other and thus serve to rigidly clamp the abutting rail flanges together.

5. In combination with superimposed road rails having abutting flanges the lower one of which has a downturned lip, a clamp mechanism for securing the rails to each other, said clamp mechanism including two plate-like members one of which has a portion permanently secured to the upper rail and a portion extended rearwardly therefrom and the other of which has a portion adjacent the rearward extension of the first and another portion extended forwardly therefrom below the flange of the lower rail and its lip, the portion last mentioned further being notched or recessed to engage or receive said downturned lip, and said two plate-like members being pro--' vided with vertically elongated slots in their adjacent portions so positioned as to at least partially register with each other, a wedge device extending through registering portions of said slots and providing for relative vertical displacement of the two plate-like members, and the said wedge device having wedge or inclined surfaces formed at different angles in different portions thereof, with the portion or steeper angle disposed toward the smaller end of the wedge, whereby upon initial tightening movement of the wedge the plate-like members are first relatively rapidly drawn toward each other and, upon additional tightening movement of the wedge the plate member second mentioned engages the lower side of the flange on the lower rail and serves rigidly to clamp the rails together with their flanges in abutting relation.

ANTHONY S. WOLF. 

